Murder suspect 'keeping jail diary'

An American student who is a suspect in the murder of Meredith Kercher may be keeping a prison diary, it has been reported.

Amanda Knox, 20, was remanded in custody by an Italian judge this week, along with her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito and Congolese immigrant Lumumba "Patrick" Diya.

The Italian news agency Ansa quoted Saulo Scarabattoli, a prison chaplain, as saying he thought Knox was writing a diary in her cell.

"In the few moments I spent with her, it seemed she had a lot in her heart to think about, and I think she may be writing it down," he said.

A judge in the Italian city of Perugia, where 21-year-old Miss Kercher was found with her throat cut on November 2, ruled there was sufficient evidence against the trio to keep them in custody for up to a year.

The body of Miss Kercher, from Coulsdon in Surrey, is expected to be flown back to the UK within the next 24 hours.

On Monday, tests are due to begin in Rome on forensic material found in the room where Miss Kercher was killed.

Grisly details of the Leeds University student's final hours emerged in a 19-page court document.

The report by judge Claudia Matteini suggested that Miss Kercher's throat was slit after she was subjected to a prolonged and drug-fuelled sexual assault.

The three suspects, who deny any involvement in her death, allegedly wanted to try an "extreme experience".